WINTER MAGIC by JOHN NEVILLE

Winter Magic
 
November’s winter gloom, lightened only by bonfire night with its smells of mulled wine and scorched blue touch paper, is an evocation of a childhood yearned for throughout our adult lives.  Soon it will be Christmas.  Thoughts of the approaching festive season fill our hearts with yet more nostalgia – memories that stay forever.  With any luck, snow will grace the landscape covering all man-made imperfections, dusting trees in magical splendour.
 
A garden in winter is pure theatre.  Lean hedges and bare grass create a stage for the low winter sun to play a leading role.  Long shadows stride across lawns; deep, dark shade possesses sinister corners; and side-lighting glances across the bleached bones of summer past.  It’s time now to write the script and cast the players for next year’s performance.
 
John Neville